Birth certificate data quality: Examining the maternal medical risk factor text field

In 2003 the United States Certificate of Live Birth will be changed for the 12th time, excluding the "other" text fields currently on the birth certificate, with only a single study that examined the use of these text fields. In the maternal medical risk factor section of the birth certificate, the text field provides a means of identifying error in the data collection process for the maternal medical risk factor check box section, and is the only mechanism of providing new information regarding a maternal medical risk not captured in a check box. This study examined the maternal medical risk factor text field for "unique" and "redundant" information for eight months in 1999 and 2000 (MayDecember) in the largest volume birth hospital in the state of Texas, and compared the 1999 and 2000 data in light of a change in collector from clerk to nurse, compared the 1999 and 2000 data obtained in the maternal medical risk factor text field to the data in the maternal medical risk factor check box category. Using numerically recoded information from the maternal medical risk factor text field, the researcher examined birth certificate data for 1999 and 2000, and analyzed the data using frequency analysis and measure of central tendency. The researcher found that the use of the maternal medical risk factor text field increased in 2000 when registered nurse collectors began to collect the maternal medical risk factor information. Additionally, redundant information decreased and unique information increased in 2000 when comparing the maternal medical risk factor text field to the maternal medical risk factor check box section.